TT. Tui Travel

Thomas Cook Group PLC (TCG.LN) said Monday that trading has strengthened in its major markets since September as the U.K.-based travel company reported an increase in annual earnings and revenue.

The U.K.'s travel companies have proved resilient during the downturn. They've experienced some weakening in demand and customers are booking later than normal, but they've kept up prices and protected margins by reducing the number of holidays available.

While the late booking trend is still evident, Thomas Cook said its winter trading position "continues to improve and trend towards our planned capacity."

"It is still early in the summer booking cycle, however we are confident we can manage trading in line with demand," the company added.

Excluding exceptional items, earnings before interest and tax--the key figure tracked by U.K. analysts--rose 13% to GBP414.9 million in the year ended Sept. 30, beating market expectations of GBP403 million. That compares with a proforma figure of GBP365.9 million a year earlier.

Annual revenue rose 5.9% to GBP9.27 billion, broadly in line with expectations of GBP9.29 billion, after the company increased the price of some holidays and sterling's weakness boosted revenues from outside the U.K. That compares with a proforma GBP8.75 billion a year ago.

Thomas Cook has restated its fiscal 2008 results because of a change to its year end.

In August, Thomas Cook said it will meet its fiscal 2009 targets despite a widened loss for the first nine months of the year. But the group warned that it won't make the GBP480 million in EBIT it had targeted for fiscal 2010 because of the industry downturn.

Thomas Cook declared a final dividend of 7.0 pence a share, up slightly from 6.5 pence a year earlier. That takes the total for the year to 10.75 pence, up 10% from 9.75 pence a year earlier.

Thomas Cook shares closed at 216 pence Friday, valuing the company at GBP1.86 billion. The stock has risen 22% since January, compared with the bellwether FTSE 100 index's 18% gain over the same period.

-By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com

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